Today was a little under 24 miles around a 7:30 min/mile overall pace so nice and easy. The team met up at 6:00 and got 8 miles in before another 16 with the rest of the Rogues at 7:00. I decided to try the Mizuno Musha during the first 8 miles.

Mizuno Musha

The Mizuno Musha are racing shoes, very light with just a little support, and should be great for racing a marathon if my legs can handle them. The first 8 miles of the run went well with them on, it was a very different feel and I could tell that they didn’t have any cushioning so they would not be good trainers. They’re very flexible and responsive so they should feel good to run in at faster paces but aren’t quite right for the more plodding motion of easy runs.

I’m also going to give the Brooks Green Silence a go and decide if either of these shoes will be my racing shoes, ideally for the marathon but if not then for some shorter distances. I’m positive they will not suit me for everyday training shoes.

Brooks Green Silence

This week should end somewhere around 70 miles, it would have been closer to 80 but getting a cold over the weekend made me miss a couple of runs this week.

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This is a continuation of my earlier review of the Mizuno Wave Elixir and it’s comparison to the Mizuno Wave Precision. It feels like (I haven’t made any measurements) that the tow box in the Elixir is a little more tapered than the Precision. I only experience this in my right foot, which is a little bigger than the left (more room up front in right foot). The outer most toe seems to get pinched a litle in the Elixir but not in the Precision. If I don’t pay attention to it then it seems to have a chain effect to the other toes where the middle toe kind of is over the second toe and that can cause some issues. The fix for me has been pretty easy, when running just focus on the spreading the feet out and that seems to solve the “pinching”. So, it’s probably not really pinching but my feet feel a little more constricted and so the toe just is makings its own adjustment … which seems to be easily re-trainable.

As I finish writing this post I’m getting a little worried about my sanity and turning into a hypochondriac. Need to find something else to think about when I’m running soon.

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I wrote a few weeks about trying some new shoes out and specifically about running the Elixir instead of the Precision. One area of my foot that bothered me towards the end of my CIM training in 2008 was my toes. Specifically the joint of the toe which would get tight where I couldn’t really bend the toe down on it’s own and pulling it up would hurt. I haven’t had that issue with the Elixir and last week on my trip to Berkeley I decided to run in my Precision again and the felt a little discomfort again. I’ve realized and been told I have some weakness in my toes/foot and need to perform the towel exercises (an example) but what was up with the show change bringing it on. I then went back to my CIM race when I started wearing the Nike Lunar Trainer and when we arrived in Sacramento my toe joint hurt a lot.

Both the Nike Lunar Trainer and Mizuno Precision are very flexible, they pretty much bend with your foot. What that has meant is that when walking or running my foot and toes are flexing more than they really are capable of right now and that seems to be the reason for the soreness and tightness. The flexibility does mean I can get better push off but for now I have some work to do before the Precisions can be used for anything longer than 10 miles.

I was talking to somebody about this at the Rogue Equipment store over the weekend and it was one of those moments where I thought … really, I’m so weak where I can’t handle a small difference in the shoes because of my toes! Then somebody else said runners are just more in tune with their body 🙂

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I recently started wearing the Mizuno Wave Elixir. Over the last 2 to 3 years I’ve consistently run in the Mizuno Wave Precision. After my injury earlier this year from overuse and stress one of the things I decided to do given the imbalances and weaknesses in my legs was try some shoes with greater stability. Changing shoes is always an tough thing to do. Once you find a pair of shoes that work getting another pair that don’t feel right or worse still stress your body in manner you’re not used to and possibly cause injury is a worry.

The Elixir is not very different from the Precision, it feels a little softer (more cushioned) and has a little more stability. The “wave” on the inside of the Elixir is different from the Precision and the cushioned part of the heel extends to the middle of the shoe instead of stopping right 1/3 of the way up the shoe like the Precision. In all the shoes are so similar I think it was a good move and a good choice. The Elixir even weighs less than the Precision which surprised me.

For more cushioning (if I want to stick with Mizuno) the Inspire or Nexus would be options as well but they are over 11 oz and 10 oz respectively while the Elixir and Precision are under 10 oz and I like the feel of lighter shoes. Of course, I may change my mind as the mileage adds up and the feet get sore from the pounding and go with something with a little more cushioned. The other thing with the next level of shoes like the Inspire or Nexus is they aren’t as flexible or responsive so I’ll try and stick with the Elixir and Precision for now.